Bauer, Williams lead Bulldogs to win over Bears

SANDPOINT — Rock-solid, aggressive goal keeping by Kanyen Bauer and two more goals from scoring machine Tanner Williams helped lead Sandpoint to a key 2-1 win over Moscow in 4A Inland Empire League boys soccer action Tuesday at Centennial Field.

The win secures the Bulldogs (8-3-1, 3-0 4A IEL) home field advantage for the 4A North Regional tournament, where they will most likely face the Bears (5-5, 1-2 4A IEL) again with a state berth on the line.

Williams scored in the fourth minute on a penalty kick after a handball, before beating three defenders and adding a needed insurance goal, his 23rd on the season, later in the game to give the Bulldogs a 2-0 lead.

Bauer had a couple of big saves in goal, as the Bears’ counter attack generated numerous good looks at goal. He came out aggressively on a couple of point blank attempts, stuffing the shots and helping preserve the early 1-0 lead, before finally losing the shutout in the last minutes.

“Kanyen kept us in the game,” said Bulldogs coach Adam Tajan of his senior keeper. “It’s never a blowout versus Moscow. They (Moscow) created several chances on some of our breakdowns defensively, and they’ll be hungry when we face them again.”

While Sandpoint controlled most of the possession, Moscow had the better looks at goal, out-shooting the Bulldogs 7-5 in a rare occurrence. Jansen Rinck had a couple of big blasts from well outside the box that nearly found the back of the net, as he was recently moved up into the Bulldogs’ attack.

Sandpoint is at Lake City on Thursday.

First half — 1, Spt, Tanner Williams (penalty kick), 4:00.

Second half — 2, Spt, Williams (Jansen Rinck), 72:00. 3, Mos, Kyle Peterson (unassisted), 79:00.

Shots on goal — Mos 7, Spt 5.

Saves — Moscow 3; Spt, Kanyen Bauer, 6.

n Fox leads JV’s to win

SANDPOINT — Anthony Fox scored twice and George Wood once, and Jacob Rookey and Austin Keyes combined for a shutout in the Bulldog JV’s 3-0 win over Moscow.